Rebirth of Shuangshu

Chapter 137
The border between Song State and Rui State.

A convoy is moving forward slowly.There are more than a hundred people in this team. The decorations on the carriages and the clothes of the people are much more gorgeous than ordinary caravans.

This is the mission of Song State to Qin State.

A few months ago, under the initiative of the Song Dynasty and the witness of the ten neighboring countries, the Jin and Chu countries, which have been fighting all the year round, reached an "Alliance to Eliminate Soldiers".

Everyone thought that the region would usher in a long-lost peace, but unfortunately the good times didn't last long.Nearly two months later, another military disaster broke out between the Jin and Chu countries, and the alliance to eliminate the soldiers was torn up.

This time the battle between Jin and Chu was chosen within the territory of Zheng State.Song Guo was lucky to escape.

It's just that Jin and Chu fought again, which made Sima Huayuan of the Song Dynasty sleepless.After some consideration, and after discussing with the counselors, Hua Yuan decided to embrace Qin's thigh.

The state of Qin and the state of Song do not border each other, so why did Hua Yuan seek distance?Because the relationship between Song State and Wei State is not good.

Song State and Wei State also often fought, and Qin State and Wei State also had a hostile relationship.The enemy of the so-called enemy can cooperate, and of course the Song State chose the Qin State.

From a geographical point of view, the state of Song is not far from the state of Qin, and there is only a state of Rui in the middle.It is relatively convenient to travel to and from trade and military support.

Therefore, Hua Yuan sent a mission under the banner of celebrating King Qin's birthday.

When the mission goes to Qin with a goal, it must allow enough time for communication.Since King Qin's birthday was in spring, the missions of Song State had to leave in winter.

It was better when they were in the territory of Song State, but after ten days the mission team entered the territory of Rui State.But when we arrived in Ruiguo, the weather and road conditions were much worse.

After several rains and snows, the dirt road outside the city became muddy and difficult to walk.Even the official road has become potholed, it is difficult to walk on foot, and it is also difficult to drive by horse-drawn carriage.

Among the envoys was a cart with a brass bell on it.There were several female relatives sitting in the car.

Hua Ying, Hua Yuan's daughter, half master of the mission.

This time Huaying went to Qin with the mission, Hua Yuan intends to promise her to the nobles of Qin, so as to expand Hua Yuan's contacts in Qin.It would be even better if King Qin could take a fancy to her.

Huaying was complaining to the maids in the carriage at the moment.

"Didn't it mean that Rui Country is as prosperous as Tao City? Why is their official path so difficult? It's only been a day since I left, and I'm almost torn apart."

"My lady, don't be upset. After all, the country of Rui is just a small country, so how can it be compared with the country of Song Dynasty? Others say that, it's just because the people of Rui country have some face."

"Our Great Song Kingdom has been fighting for years, and the population is getting smaller and smaller. I heard that the population of Rui Country in one city is equal to that of our whole country."

"There are so many of them, why don't they build roads, and don't know the truth of 'If you want to get rich, you must first build roads'? Even the official road is so bad, how can the merchants get away with it?"

"It's winter now, and merchants don't go out. If the weather is warmer, they probably have to build roads."

"The country of Rui has only one city. If there is an enemy coming, the road outside the city is difficult, but it can drag the enemy army for a while."

"Hmph, if I, Da Song, have a chance to breathe, I can find a reason to take this Ruicheng."

"Shh, even if the lady thinks so in her heart, it's not good to say it like this. If the young master listens to it, the lady will be scolded again."

"I know this truth. It's not that we are the only ones in the carriage. If there are outsiders, I will never tell. You are not allowed to complain to my brother."

While speaking, there was movement at the door of the carriage, and a woman's voice came from outside.

"My lady, the young master asked me to come over and pass on the message. It is estimated that it will snow according to the weather. The convoy should speed up and try to arrive at Chongyifang to rest before dark."

Huaying directly raised the curtain of the car, looked at the woman following outside and asked, "Why don't you go directly to Ruidu?"

"Young master is worried that the time will not be enough. If the city gate is closed at that time, I will have to run back."

Huaying frowned and pondered, "Find me a horse. I want to ride a horse instead of a car."

In this era, in countries where wars often broke out, most of the women were able to use martial arts to defend themselves.For those who have the conditions, women are even proficient in riding and shooting.Huaying is like this.

After a while, a horse was led to the carriage.Huaying abandoned the carriage and got on the horse, but her maids could only stay in the carriage.

Huaying rode forward and came to a carriage in front of him.

The owner of this carriage is Hua Wen, Hua Yuan's son and Hua Ying's half-brother.

Huaying knocked twice on the car window.

The curtain of the car was lifted, revealing a man's face as white as jade.It's just that this person is not Chinese, but another person.

When Huaying saw the man for the first time, her face turned hot subconsciously, but she quickly suppressed the restlessness in her heart, and looked at the man nonchalantly.

"Zhaoxu, where's my brother?"

Zhao Xu, the son of the Zhao family of the Song Dynasty.This is Lin Xiaoxiao's old friend, the one who gave them a carriage.Zhao Xu is also a member of the Song Dynasty Mission this time.

Lin Xiaoxiao shot Chaoyan with an arrow, and Chaoxu was able to return home.Without Chao Yan's deliberate suppression, Zhao Xu's life at Chao's house finally becomes easier.In addition, Chao Yan's death gave the Chao family a warning, and the methods used by the Chao family in all aspects were much milder, which saved a little reputation for the Chao family.

This time Sima Huayuan sent a mission to Qin State, and invited some aristocratic families of Song Dynasty when forming the mission.The Chao family kept a low profile during this period and didn't really want to get involved in this matter, but they couldn't refuse Sima Huayuan, so they sent Zhao Xu, a younger student who was relatively low key in the past, to participate.

Zhao Xu is so beautiful that people fall in love with him at first sight.He behaves in a very organized manner, and it is easy for people to feel close.Not long after joining the mission, Zhaoxu came into Huawen's sight and was often invited to ride with Huawen.

The son is like jade, and people like it when they see it.Huaying is no exception.

Hua Ying fell in love with Zhao Xu at first sight.It's just that she is clear-headed and fully aware of her mission to go to Qin, so she hides this thought deeply in her heart.

Hearing Huaying's voice, Huawen leaned forward, frowning and looked at Huaying outside the window.

"What's the matter with you?"

Hua Ying snorted lightly, but she didn't dare to show disrespect to Hua Wen: "Brother, riding a horse is faster than a carriage, can I go ahead?"

Hua Wen pondered for a while and said, "Call a few guards and guides, let's take a step together."

"Okay, brother, go slowly, let's book a restaurant first."

With a wave of Huaying's hand, the guards who rode together followed, and one of them was a guide.

The guards are all Fahrenheit's private soldiers.Guides are hired from merchants.For the insurance period, they hired a total of three guides.

Huaying left with a group of people first.

A woman rode a horse and slowly approached Hua Wen's carriage. After looking at Zhao Xu in the carriage, she silently moved a little distance away.

This woman is Anan.Where there is Chaoxu, naturally there is Anan.Due to the limited personnel of the mission, only five people from the Chao family came.Except for Zhao Xu and Anan, the other three are servants who serve them.

On muddy roads, horses are not so easy to walk.

When Huaying was free for a while, she believed in letting the horse go, but she almost fell off the horse when her foot slipped.

Huaying was taken aback and broke out in a cold sweat, so she restrained herself a little.

With a guide leading the way, Huaying and his group arrived at Chongyifang ahead of schedule.

It's still early at this time, and it's not yet Shen Shi.It's just that the sky is a little dark, like it's going to rain and snow.

Huaying didn't have the guts to disobey Huawen's decision, so she led people into Chongyifang.

The guide took everyone to the restaurant.

Huaying looked at the closed shops and asked with a frown, "Didn't you say that Chongyifang is a commercial place? How can these shops do business when they are closed?"

"Young lady doesn't know something," the guide explained, "Chongyifang in Ruiguo is all about dealing with merchants. It's cold and the merchants are out, and the shops are closed. When the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, the merchants come out for activities." , the store will reopen.”

"The shops are closed, where should we stay?" Huaying asked again.

The guide smiled mysteriously: "My lady, please come with me. There is a Wanjia restaurant not long ahead. That restaurant is open all year round, even if there is no business, it is open."

Wanjia Restaurant is opposite Wanjia Study.You can tell from the name that the two shops are the same owner.

A group of people rode to the door of Wanjia Restaurant.

I saw that the door of the restaurant was ajar.

Hua Ying frowned slightly.The guide pushed the door open on the road and entered.Huaying and the guards had no choice but to follow.

In the dim lobby of the restaurant, only a boy in sackcloth dozed off with a charcoal basin.

The restaurant door opened, and a gust of cold wind blew in. The boy shivered coldly, rubbed his nose and sneezed, and looked sleepily at the door.

"Xiaotong, why are you the only one guarding the door, where is the shopkeeper Ruiliu?"

"The guest officer is here, please come to the objective. The shopkeeper has gone to Kunlun to hear about the book. Please sit down and rest for a while. I'll go find the shopkeeper."

Xiao Tong invited everyone into the lobby, turned around and ran towards the Kunlun Tea Library.Although Xiaotong is not tall, but his feet are very stable, he ran all the way to the tea library.

The door of the tea library is open, and two half-blackout curtains keep out the wind.This is mainly for ventilation, and there are many people inside and the charcoal basin is lit. If there is no ventilation, people will be suffocated to death.

The little boy entered the room lightly, bent over and searched among the crowd.In order not to affect Mr.'s storytelling, the people in the room are very disciplined, and people are not allowed to make loud noises when they come to see him.

Rui Liu was sitting in the penultimate row, and Xiaotong found him quickly.Xiao Tong whispered something to him from behind, Rui Liu got up and left silently.

After leaving the tea library, Rui Liu took the boy to the restaurant.

"How many guests are here?"

"There are about a dozen people, they look like foreigners, and they look like people from the Song Dynasty."

"There are so many people? Go and call out Jiawu."

Xiao Tong quickly ran back to Kunlun again, and called out a few guys from the restaurant.

It was only when Rui Liu arrived at the restaurant that he realized that the visitor was an honored guest from Song Dynasty.

The dozen or so people who came earlier were just leading the way, and there are dozens of people who will arrive soon after.These more than 100 people are equivalent to booking the entire restaurant.

Rui Liu hurriedly made arrangements.Not only the buddy who heard about the book was brought back, but also other people who went home on vacation were called back.

After careful questioning, Huaying and the dozen or so people hadn't had lunch yet.The restaurant found that it was too late for Zhang Luo, so Rui Liu asked the waiter to go to the Kunlun grocery store first to buy some cooked food to fill his stomach.

When it comes to cooking, it is actually Malatang.Cui Panpan made it to save trouble.

Although there is no chili in this era, ginger, green onion, peppercorns and the like already exist.Cui Panpan uses chicken to make broth.Then cook Malatang with high broth, it is very delicious without adding extra seasoning.

Fresh vegetables of this age are stored in the cellar.

Cui Panpan has Lin Xiaoxiao as a cheat.Every half a month, Lin Xiaoxiao will send some fresh vegetables down the mountain.Cui Panpan puts these vegetables in the cellar, and they will not go bad at all within half a month.

The most important thing is that Lin Xiaoxiao has many kinds of vegetables in her hands, even fresh fruits.

In the beginning, the Kunlun Grocery Store put fresh vegetables on shelves in winter, which really surprised the people in Chongyifang.But soon people knew the relationship between the Kunlun Grocery Store and the Kunlun Mountain Girl, and gradually they didn't find it strange.

In the hearts of the common people, Shannv should have boundless magic power, who can conjure a bunch of fresh fruits with a wave of her hand.

Of course, the price of these fresh vegetables and fruits is not low, and the quantity on the shelves is not much each time.But even so, it is in short supply.

Hua Yingben was a little hungry, and when the cooked food was brought over, she almost couldn't help drooling when she smelled the smell.

What surprised Huaying even more was that there were actually two big prawns in this bowl of cooking.

Huaying loves big prawns the most. Every summer, she asks her maid to go to the river to buy prawns.Unexpectedly, the people of Rui country can eat shrimps in winter.

In order to receive the delegation from the State of Song, Rui Liu asked people to open up all the back yards.Simply clean up the dust, then order a charcoal basin and put it in the house for smoking.

After riding the horse for a long time, Huaying felt tired and drowsy after eating the cooked food, so she went to rest by herself.

After a while, there was a sudden commotion in the street.Today's storytelling in Kunlun is over, and everyone has gone back to their homes.Many people were walking on the road, talking loudly about exciting content with the people around them.

Someone walked near the Wanjia restaurant and found that the restaurant was lit with lights and figures of people.Some curious people came forward to inquire, and only then did they know that there was a distinguished guest in Chongyifang.

All of a sudden, the street is more lively.

After a while, it snowed in the sky.The street was quiet again.

However, Hua Yuan and his party did not arrive at Wanjia Restaurant until after Xushi.They were not very lucky, and some carriage wheels broke down on the way, which delayed the time.

Fortunately, Huaying is still sensible, and has been letting the restaurant prepare meals.Rui Liu is even more good at handling errands, besides ordinary meals, he also prepared a charcoal hot pot.

When it comes to hot pot, it also originated from the Kunlun grocery store.

Cui Panpan sells hot pot utensils.In fact, it is a casserole with a charcoal stove.

These hot pots are pottery utensils improved by craftsmen in Laiqi Mountain.In order to promote these utensils, Cui Panpan specially held a hot pot competition and officially introduced the cooking method of hot pot to everyone.

No need to ask, the hot pot competition must be a success.Cui Panpan's hot pot utensils have also received many orders.

Stores that integrate accommodation and catering, such as Wanjia Restaurant, have more than ten reservations.

In the cold winter, hiding in the house and eating a steaming hot pot is like a fairy.

Therefore, when Hua Yuan and Zhao Xu arrived at Wanjia Restaurant, they also ate delicious hot pot soon.

(End of this chapter)